Media blamed for Butler's resignation

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A paparazzi-style car chase from Hobart Airport to Government House steeled Premier Paul Lennon's resolve to seek the resignation of former governor Richard Butler.

Under pressure to detail the circumstances surrounding the viceroy's premature demise, Mr Lennon told reporters today Mr Butler had been dogged by gossip and innuendo, mainly about past events.

"And then we saw the extraordinary circumstances on the weekend in Sydney where he was stalked by the electronic media in a very debilitating manner," he said.

"That led to the paparazzi-style car chase from Hobart Airport to Government House on Sunday evening.

"Now, these were not the actions of a responsible media that I believed would allow Richard Butler's term as Governor of Tasmania to follow the normal course of events and, therefore, somebody had to accept the responsibility to end the controversy.

"That fell to me and I accept that responsibility."

Mr Butler, a former UN weapons inspector, agreed to immediately resign on Monday night and will receive a termination payment of $650,000.

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The 62-year-old cited a malicious campaign against him was threatening to besmirch the good name of Tasmania.

The move followed months of discontent in Tasmania over his style in the vice-regal role.

Mr Lennon said he had backed Mr Butler for some considerable time, but those reporting public events in Australia were not prepared to let the controversy surround Mr Butler die.

"I haven't met anyone in the community yet who is arguing that I did the wrong thing in providing advice to Richard Butler in his capacity as governor that there was a controversy here and the only way to end the controversy was for his commission as governor of Tasmania to end," Mr Lennon said.

"Now, there are only two ways that can happen.

"One is by mutual agreement, which I was able to achieve. The other is by dismissal."

Mr Lennon said presumably, people who were critical of his role in Mr Butler's resignation believe the former governor should have been dismissed.

"So, therefore, it is up to those people now to publicly explain what the grounds for dismissal were," he said.

The state opposition today called for Mr Lennon to recall parliament early to allow the circumstances surrounding Mr Butler's resignation to be scrutinised.

Mr Lennon said he had insisted a confidentiality clause be removed from documentation drafted for the resignation to allow him to tell Tasmanians about the details surrounding the separation arrangements.

He said he had no problem with Mr Butler commenting publicly on the issue if he wanted to.